Chickens

The chickens are loving the warmer weather and we are getting several dozen eggs per week.  I've now got many dozens frozen in baggies for the future (ran out of egg cartons).  To freeze them, I broke 2 eggs into a bowl, scrambled them together with a fork and put into ziplock sandwich bags.  I laid them on my cookie sheets so that they froze flat.  After they were frozen, I put the baggies into a Ziploc freezer bag, labeled and stuck them in the big freezer.  Putting them on the cookie sheet insures they are nice and flat and easy to store.  About 1/2 way through, I figured out it was easier to just break the eggs into the baggie and after zipping it, squish the bag with my fingers.  The yoke and the white just need to be mixed a little.  It saved some time to do it all in the bag!

Thankful for ~

colorful chicken breeds
different colored eggs
the ladies greeting me at the coop door when I feed them
lots of eggs
the Lords creativity depicted in His creations

Azalea's

Springtime brings out the beautiful azalea blooms ~ the former owner planted lots of them and I love them!  Many different colors also~

And then everything else that flowers ~~~~~

the amaryllis is coming to life

beautiful tiny violets ~ the hosta is coming forth too !

Dogwood blossom ~ we have 3 dogwood trees!

not sure what this is, but its pretty

The largest blueberry bush is covered in blooms

We've got 2 irises that have bloomed but I haven't gotten a picture yet.  Our new little apple trees survived the winter.  Most of our seeds have sprouted in the cups that Amy and I planted.  I've transplanted the tomatoes to larger pots.  The hydrangea bushes are putting on leaves.  And I saw yesterday a BLOOMING wisteria at the edge of our yard.  Its a big ~ all caps ~ deal because the one I planted in MS NEVER bloomed.....ever.  I love the way they look with the lavender flowers!

Thankful for ~

the beauty of springtime

plants coming back to life after the winter

blooming surprises in the yard

warmer temps to get outside

planning the garden

Three Days & Three Nights

Today in the Christian world is the observance of Good Friday ~ the day Jesus Christ laid down His life for His followers, that they would have eternal life through Him.  Greg wrote an excellent article several years ago on the timeline of Holy Week.  Its well researched and documented.  Below is the article ~

Friday, April 18, 2014

The Sign of Jonah - Three Days and Three Nights

Three Days and Three Nights

Scripture states that Jesus rose THE third day, IN three days, and AFTER three days (Matthew 16:21; 26:61; 27:63).

Only three full days – seventy-two full hours – will satisfy all the numerous statements of the New Testament.

Jesus gave only one sign, the sign of Jonah, to prove He was truly the Son of God – the time He would be dead (Matt 12:38-40; 16:4).

Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples on the evening of the fourteenth by Moses' law. The first day of the Jewish year was the spring equinox.  It has 12 hours of day and night.  Passover was 14 days later, a Tuesday night. (Ex 12:6-8; Matt 26:17-20; Mark 14:12-17; Luke 22:7-15).

The crucifixion began at 9:00 AM Wednesday morning, and Jesus died after the darkness ended at 3:00 PM Wednesday afternoon. (Matthew 27:45-50; Mark 15:25,33-37; Luke 23:44-49).

Jesus was buried hurriedly as the preparation day ended and the high Sabbath day, Thursday, was about to begin (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14,31,42).

The women who followed Jesus rested the high Sabbath day, Thursday, of the Passover before buying and preparing their spices on Friday.  This was the only day they could do the preparations. (Mark 16:1; Exodus 12:16).

The women bought their spices and prepared them on the regular workday between the two Sabbaths days this week (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:55-56).

The women rested during the weekly Sabbath day, Saturday, after buying and preparing their spices the previous workday (Luke 23:55-56; Exodus 20:10).

Jesus rose from the dead as the weekly Sabbath ended – three days and three nights after burial – as prophesied (Matthew 12:39-40; Mark 8:31).

While it was still dark, the morning of the first day of the week, the women found the tomb already empty (Matt 28:1-6; Luke 24:1-3; John 20:1).

The gospel record of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection prove His identifying sign of three days and three nights (Matthew 12:39-40).

 

The only thing I can add to this is ~ keep in mind the Jewish days and nights differ.  Their day is sunset to sunset, not midnight to 11:59 pm.  So their Sabbath starts at sunset Friday and ends at Sunset Saturday.

Thankful for ~

Christ's sacrifice for His children

searching for the truth instead of relying on mans traditions

celebrating Christ's resurrection 2000 years later

The Homemakers ABC's

While purging my valuable collections (junk), I came across this ABC acrostic for homemaking and wanted to share ~~~~~

Always remember you are doing an important job.

Bake homemade cookies to keep your cookie jar full.

Cook delicious and nutritious meals for the family.

Dance with the children in the rain.

Examine your home for dust bunnies.

Frown upon bad manners.

Guide your household with wisdom.

Hide laundry in the bathtub when the neighbor pops over.

Ignore the words "she's just a homemaker".

Joyfully serve your family's needs each day.

Kiss your husband in the morning.

Laugh at burned toast ~ tomorrow it won't matter.

Make home a place they "love to come home to."

Never assume your children will always make you happy.

Open your home to minister to others.

Put on an apron today.

Quiet your heart when you feel like yelling.

Rest ~ you need it to cope with tomorrow.

Smile a lot.

Take care of yourself ~ you are hard to replace.

Understand that no homemaker is perfect.

Virtuous women don't get their qualities overnight.

Wash their socks and pray for the path they will take.

Xpect company when you least expect them.

Your actions wills always speak louder than your words.

Zealously guard 'home" ~ you are the keeper.

(2008 Homemakers Mentors, LLC, Martha Greene & Rebekah Wilson)

I do some of these well, need to work on others, and have failed at quite a few.  I've never put the laundry in the bathtub, but have crammed it into the hamper and put the lid on it.  I love the socks idea ~ I pray the Lord will guide and direct the paths my children's feet take, especially now that they are grown and out of the house.

From my bible study "Lies Women Believe", I read a wonderful prayer for children this morning.  The end of the Prayer is "I pray that You will open their hearts to the Truth, that their wills be brought into submission to Yours (the Lord), and that You will protect them from choices they will one day regret." To me, this would apply to my children and grandchildren.

Thankful for ~

resources from Godly women

the ability to share

seeing prayers answered for my children

finding jewels like the ABC's

daily reminders of the Lords goodness & mercy

Happenings

Happenings ~~~~~

*It got cold again ~ argh! 

*Got 5 trays of seeds started and they mostly all sprouted

*Praying our peach blooms don't freeze and fall off

*Greg is replacing the floor in my sewing room ~ having to do it in sections and move everything to lay down the floor then move it again to pull up more carpet.  The floor is a vinyl tile and the old floor is nasty carpet.  James is in charge of carpet ripping out.

*Found out our kitchen has a subfloor.  Its built up about 6 inches ~ the tremendously ugly vinyl flooring is underneath it...I think this is the 3rd different vinyl we have found in our remodeling.  However, knowing there is a subfloor will make it easier when we fix the soft spot in front of the fridge in the kitchen.

*Smocked my great niece a dress ~ now to finish sewing it together

*Ready for the warmer weather to come back

*We are sorting and getting rid of stuff.  Should have done this before we moved and did to some extent, but not enough.  The local thrift store is the recipient of our donations. 

*Helping mom sort, toss, donate, etc. at her house before it goes on the market.  And pack!

*Am so excited and proud that my nephew passed his Marine Corp. Officer Candidate School & will graduate & be commissioned as an Office this weekend!  My sister and her family are traveling up to Quantico, VA to join in the festivities!  Yay Brian!

Thankful for ~

pictures of my grandsons on facebook
a new floor
getting rid of the unimportant
a young man achieving his dream
Quantico's photos of the training and exercises (quite fun to look at)
laughter around the table at Sunday lunch at church
Chocolate!  Always thankful for chocolate! 

Saw a cute Sewing machine picture tip on Facebook today ~

Now I know what that little drawer is for on the front of the machine base!  Great information! 

Beautiful Springtime

Spring has sprung here in GA ~ and with it allergy season.  I've been sniffling and coughing for 2 weeks and totally lost my voice for several of those days.  But with the yucky pollen comes beautiful flowers and flowering trees.  And warmer temperatures have been a plus ~ some days above 80 degrees.  Its kind of a catch 22 situation...the warmer temps lure you outside, then the pollen attacks and you need to go inside ~ doesn't seem quite fair!

Amy and I started a bunch of seeds in cups this week to jumpstart the garden ~ I've saved all Gregs yogurt cups over the winter and had quite a collection.  We started heirloom tomatoes (2 kinds), zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower, cucumbers, and bell peppers.  My corn, watermelon, bush and pole beans we will start directly in the ground.

Current projects include building a fenced in area for the Chihuahua's ~ they can burrow under the older chain link fence surrounding the pasture and love to annoy the neighbors free range chickens.  We are also ripping up the dirty carpet in the sewing/craft room and replacing it with vinyl tile ~ easy to clean! 

Amy, James, and I tackled shaving the angora rabbits.  What a chore.  I was the rabbit holder while they shaved and clipped.  I did put on a lightweight jacket and work gloves to protect me if they got feisty ~ and they did.  Amy got a huge surprise when we flipped on of the rabbits over to trim their tummy.....seems like Ana and Elsa are actually Ana and Hans.  We are very thankful to not have a bunch of baby angoras.  Hans will be going to the vet.

Ana (or flop ear) was hiding in case we decided to clip again.

This is Hans, he did nip while being clipped, I was thankful for James gloves

Redbud is beautiful

buds on our peach tree

future peaches!

I am thankful for ~
flowers
green trees
allergy medicine
warmer temperatures
longer days
working on projects

From The Craft Room

I've been really busy the last couple of weeks organizing my fabric scraps.  My former "sort them by color" was still a jumbled mess.  I saw an idea on the internet about cutting them into squares or strips and placing them in boxes or baskets.  Mine are cut into 3", 4", 5" and 6" squares and 2" and 2 1/2" strips.  The squares are all separated by sizes and placed in the heavy cardboard photo boxes from Michaels (they had a 5 for $10 sale a couple of weeks ago).  The strips are in clear plastic storage containers from Walmart.  There is one box that is Holiday squares for Christmas, Patriotic and Thanksgiving fabrics. 

This is so much nicer than the jumbled up mess it was before!

Yesterday I got to go to the Sewing & Quilt Expo that was held here in metro Atlanta,  it was a crowded, noisy, excitement filled huge room of crafters.  Loads of exhibitors selling everything from buttons to $6000+ sewing machines.  I had a lot of fun walking around shopping and looking (would have been better if Angel & Amy Lynn had been there).  I went with cash, a list of what I needed, and some leftover for wants!  I came out with leftover cash, everything I needed except smocking pleater needles and quite a number of impulse purchases.  I did order the pleater needles this morning and the leftover cash is no more.

The owl applique was a make it and take it class, the spools of embroidery thread in the back were $3.99 each and the huge white spool is bobbin thread  ~ 22,000 feet was $12.50~  Got an octagon shaped chicken placemat kit (impulse), Seashell embroidery CD (impulse), new snippers to replace my 15 year old ones (implulse but my others were too dull to cut anything).  The little fabric pack of squares I won at a booth.

these were all impulse purchases!  6 towels and 3 doily coasters to machine embroider on.  Not pictured is a goodie I got for me and mom and my sister for a surprise when I get it done.

Red Hen Fabrics had a cute hen valance made out of quilt blocks to decorate their booth, the pattern is free on their website.  I decided to make these and make a valance for my kitchen window.  Their blocks were clothes pinned to a jute twine.  I haven't decided how to do mine yet but I am going to back the blocks so it looks nicer on the back ~ which you can see from our sunroom.  And the blocks used scraps I already had! 

Full House

We were blessed this weekend with a full house ~ Katie, Bryant and the littles came on Friday around lunchtime to spend a couple of days.  Andy and AmyKate came on Friday night and Sat. late afternoon for dinner.  Gran came on Friday to say HI and on Sat. for dinner.  Allen, Jennifer and Aiden came on Sat. to play and eat dinner.  Will is on a mission trip to Haiti so he missed all the excitement.  Amy got to visit Friday at lunchtime and Sat. morning, then she worked the rest of the time.

And of course I have pictures~

Alvin was too worried about his goofy brothers than posing for MaMa ~ but the big guys have gorgeous smiles for me.

Life is a zoo with these 3 monkeys~

Our cabbage patch dolly!

Great pinterest idea ~ coloring in a box!  They get out, the crayons stay in!

A fistful of crayons makes cool designs

Our biggest boy and first little buddy!

This ruff and tumble boy is our cuddle bug~~ hold me is his favorite phrase ~ he did switch it Saturday and tell Katie that she "wanted to hold him"

Uncle James with Thomas and Robert

Maybe one day I can get a good shot of his huge blue eyes~

schoolwork ~ tracing letters to form color words

riding back down our long driveway on the digger tractor PaPa bought his boys

Aiden and MaMa ~ he didn't quite get enough nap

stretching to make the basket

Yay, he did it!

Aiden decided the little tractors were a safer option than the digger tractor

PaPa and Robert riding the tractor

Aiden and his daddy & mommy

Still not too sure about the tractor ~ and maybe its not safe for PaPa either

walking back to go inside and play ~ come on PaPa lets get away from that big tractor

Robert and Aiden coloring in the box ~ although crayon eating was thought about

Thomas keeps us rolling ~ here are a few snippets from the weekend ~ this little monkey just turned 2.

Katie ~ Thomas are you stinky
Reply ~ Not yet............several minutes later "now I am"

Katie ~ Thomas Jonathan stop taking that away from your brother
Thomas ~ "me?"

Granny ~ Thomas come give me a hug
T ~ why
Gran ~ because I am going home
(she didn't get a hug)

Thankful for ~
little boy laughter and antics
the joy they bring us
having all 4 buddy's together
watching Greg on the tractor with his buddy's
listening to the little phrases
snuggles and hugs
spoiling them
being grandparents